TEN groups of higher education students from Truro College were pitted against one another for cash and other prizes worth more than £1,000 at a Dragons' Den-style event.

They faced dragons Lucy Morgan from Follett Stock solicitors; Peter McGahan, from Worldwide Financial Planning; former football international and business owner Chris Morris; and West Briton editor Richard Best.

Lucy Morgan said: "I was really impressed with the standard of the presentations. Each student came across very well, handled their questions with confidence and came up with some very good ideas."

Confident

The Follett Stock Prize went to Benjo Corbally of Old Grammar School Media, for his confident manner, his commercial acumen and his drive in getting his business up and running even during a recession. "There can be no doubt that this young man is going places," said Lucy.

The winners of the worldwide financial planning prize were the Framework Theatre Group, who presented a short adaptation based on the CS Lewis books The Chronicles of Narnia, in which Narnia has been almost destroyed by a changing climate and environmental pollution. Their idea is to present the adaptation to primary school children who, they hope, will take the green message back to their families.

The winning team consisted of Sarah Howe, Karenza Richards, Steven Kelly, Mylie MccArtney, Liz Davies, Ben Collins and Jenni Sellwood all currently studying for a FdA in Performance. Peter McGahan said: "Our winners completely blew the room away and me along with it. Framework Theatre were fantastic. Their confidence grew and grew and their message was delivered with incredible innovation. Just brilliant."

Chris Morris, former Ireland international footballer and owner of Morris Pasties in Cornwall, was most impressed with counselling students Michele Cheeseman and Samantha Nicoll. Their idea for training year five pupils in active listening had incredible potential. West Briton editor Richard Best awarded his prize to John Merlin and Chris Kay-Ayling, both students in web technology for their user-friendly content management system that provides a low cost way for people to manage and update their own websites. John Merlin was also awarded the Finisterre prize for best ecological innovation.

Student Adam Trudgeon won the Truro and Penwith College prize for his LAN-party idea Xenolan.

His idea gained support with the judges as it encouraged young people away from the confines of their personal computers at home into a more social environment.

College principal Jonathan Burnett said: "Congratulations to all involved, in particular the winning teams.

Invaluable

"Events like this strengthen links between higher education at the college and local employers and helps to develop students' entrepreneurial skills for their future careers.

"Working with employers in local businesses is invaluable to our students and I am very grateful to the 'dragons' for their time, generous prizes and most importantly, the encouragement, feedback and business opportunities they have given these students."

The event was the idea of Liz Gordon, recently appointed co-ordinator for enterprise and entrepreneurship at the college.

She said: "The idea is that our students should leave higher education with more than just their educational qualifications.

"In this knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy, students should have the skills to apply their knowledge to practical situations requiring entrepreneurial solutions."